A Recipe is part of the item synthesis system in Kingdom Hearts II. Found scattered throughout the worlds, a recipe is a list of synthesis materials needed to make a particular item. Many of the most powerful items in the games, including Sora, Donald, and Goofy's ultimate weapons, have recipes that must be found before the opportunity to make them is unlocked. When a recipe is found, it is stored as a unique item, and is automatically given to the Moogle the next time the synthesis menu is opened at any Moogle shop.

In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, any command can be melded if the user has the right ingredients; however, Recipes allow the user to see what the outcome will be before the melding is performed. Higher level commands cannot be seen until the user has obtained higher level Recipes.